FG Harps on Adherence to Standards to Boost Job Creation
James Emejo
The Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Mrs. Mariam Katagum has challenged stakeholders in video technology to explore ways of creating more investment and job opportunities in through the advancement in video standards.
She said having recognised and respected standards all over the world implied that video encoded on one device can be decoded by another, regardless of the device being used, thereby introducing economies of scale that help to grow the market and give innovators the confidence to invest in new video applications and services.
Speaking at the 2019 World Standards Day Symposium, themed: “Video Standards Create a Global Stage,” which was organised by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), the minister tasked participants to develop tailor made ideas and solutions to take optimum advantage of evolving video technology through the application of standards.
Katagum, stressed that her ministry would continue to support the active participation of Nigeria in international standardisation programmes being coordinated by SON to ensure that the country continues to desire optimal benefits from emerging opportunities.
She further commended the standards agency for being up to its responsibility of standards administration in the country.
Also speaking at the occasion, the Director General/Chief Executive, SON, Mr. Osita Aboloma, urged all Nigerians to join the quality vanguard by promoting self-regulation, demanding for quality at all times and “saying something to SON every time you see something unwholesome.”
He said the symposium was to further acknowledge the national winners of the 2019 African Organisation for Standardisation Essay Competition, while some selected secondary schools had been invited to take part in a quiz competition on standardization and quality assurance issues in its continuous bid to catch them young. The SON DG said noted that innovation of recent decades had recorded a huge leap in video quality, making it more accessible and helping people worldwide to share their stories in vivid, moving pictures.
He said these gains in both the sophistication and accessibility of video are built on the development and application of international standards.
He explained: “As your representative in the international standardisation bodies namely, the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO); the International Electrotechnical
Commission (IEC) and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), we shall continue to explore means of ensuring the active participation of Nigerian stakeholders in standards development, review and implementation in line with international best practices.”
The event which is usually marked on the October 14 annually incorporates various activities to bring home to stakeholders, the message of standardisation across different sectors of the economy around the world.